author(s)
T Umamaheswari, M Rajakumar, R Senthiladeban, N Felix, S Athithan and G Sugumar

abstract
The study estimated the value chain of farmed white leg shrimp Penaeus vannamei (P.vannamei) in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu during 2017. Field data was collected from 50 Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) registered shrimp farms with pre-tested survey schedule. The final farm gate price of shrimp was quoted as Rs. 436.64 per kg with a profit margin of Rs. 116.00 per kg. The estimated cost of value chains was highest for feed and feeding management with a share of 42.81% to the final price. The results of multiple regression model showed that the value chain operations such as grading and packing, harvesting, check tray monitoring were negatively correlated and not significant at 5% level. Factor analysis on frequency of VCM processes with a cumulative variance of 67.74% indicated the less performed waste water management, although adding value to the final price. The study recommends the shrimp farmers to pay special attention on power usage for cost reduction, water quality management and waste water management for better final price.